PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- The Portland Trail Blazers may have
found a formula for stopping Tim Duncan.

The Trail Blazers limited Duncan to 12 points and used a
balanced attack to notch another convincing victory, an 81-67
triumph over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.

Duncan made 5-of-9 shots and scored only two points in the final
period, when the Spurs shot 2-of-18 and were held to nine
points. San Antonio's total was its lowest since a 64-59 win
over Cleveland on March 25, 1997 -- three months before it
selected Duncan with the first pick in the draft.

Portland forward Rasheed Wallace had the primary responsibility
on Duncan and the Trail Blazers also did an effective job of
quickly double-teaming Duncan whenever he caught the ball in the
low post. The Spurs were 0-of-9 from 3-point range, allowing
the Blazers to smother the interior.

"Rasheed set the tone," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said. "All
we can do (to Duncan) is contest him and make it tough on him to
make them. Of course, we double-team him."

"Their length on defense and experience as a team make it
tough," Duncan said. "They double-team real quick and don't give
you a chance to get going. They are very long, so it's tough to
find a rhythm. Rasheed has always been a good defender."

Duncan, who averages 21.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, was
plagued by early foul trouble and also was limited to two
rebounds. In a 105-95 loss to Portland on January 19, he was
held to nine points on 2-of-9 shooting.

"Tim got only six minutes in the first half and when they put a
long guy on him like Wallace, it's very difficult for him to
score," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Portland won the game
with defense and they stepped it up in the fourth quarter."

Steve Smith scored 15 points for Portland, which continued to
make statements with its defense. In a five-game winning streak
that began 11 days agao, the Trail Blazers have twice shut down
Duncan, limited Utah's Karl Malone to a season-low 12 points and
battled Los Angeles Lakers superstar center Shaquille O'Neal to
exhaustion.

"Our defense has been stellar most of the year and especially
through this last stretch against the Spurs, Lakers, Nets and
Jazz," Dunleavy said. "We are starting to get an idea of who we
are and what we can do. Part of it is our concentration and our
ability to contest opposing shots. If you play good defense in
this league, you can stay in games even when your offense isn't
clicking."

"It's easy to get up for games against the big teams," Blazers
reserve forward Detlef Schrempf said. "Our problem is that we
often don't get up enough for the lesser teams."

The Blazers also got another solid game from reserve Jermaine
O'Neal. In the pivotal second quarter, the 6-11 O'Neal made all
four his shots and scored 10 points as Portland opened a
nine-point halftime lead.

"For the second straight game, Jermaine came in and played
great," Dunleavy said. "He ran the floor, he rebounded, he
contested shots and he played with a lot of confidence."

Avery Johnson scored 15 points and David Robinson added 12 and
10 rebounds for the Spurs, who swept the Blazers in last year's
conference finals but are 0-2 against Portland this season. San
Antonio shot just 36 percent (27-of-75) and had a three-game
winning streak snapped.

"Portland obviously is the most talented, deepest team in the
league. It's not even close," Popovich said. "You can't afford
to make mistakes against the Blazers."

Duncan's jumper gave San Antonio a 12-6 lead but he picked up
his second foul just over a minute later and sat down midway
through the first period. Portland closed to 25-24 entering the
second quarter, then took control.

Beating his man up the floor, O'Neal scored 10 points in a 13-3
burst that turned a three-point deficit into a 47-38 lead with
1:58 left in the first half. O'Neal had two dunks, two jumpers
and two free throws in the spurt.

"When Jermaine runs the floor like that, there is going to be a
payoff because our guys are willing passers," Dunleavy said.
"The last couple of games, Jermaine has really come through and
he is earning those minutes."

"I've been waiting for a situation like this to happen," O'Neal
added. "I've had a tough first three months of the season but I
realized I just need to keep my mind focused and my head up."

The Spurs trailed 49-40 at halftime and got a scare in the third
quarter, when Robinson went down after a collision with teammate
Jerome Kersey. The veteran center was diagnosed with a bruised
shoulder and later returned.

San Antonio trailed by eight points entering the final period
and a jumper by Antonio Daniels cut the deficit to 66-60 with 11
minutes to go. But the Spurs missed 10 straight shots over the
next five minutes and the Blazers opened their largest lead at
75-60 with 7:50 remaining on a basket by Scottie Pippen, who
scored 14 points.

Wallace scored 11 points for the Blazers, who shot 45.5 percent
(30-of-66) and held a 45-39 rebounding advantage.